This invention relates in general to connectors used to join the shank of a water faucet to a water supply line or tube and in particular to a connector having improved sealing characteristics while concomitantly reducing the force required to insert the water supply tube into the connector.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,655,486 assigned to the same assignee as the assignee hereof, there is disclosed a connector for joining a shank of a water faucet to a water supply line or tube. The prior connector comprised two body members having a conical or belleville type spring entrapped therebetween. While said prior connector provided a quick and reliable connecting means, it was recognized that said prior connector suffered from certain deficiencies.
For example, the prior connector required a relatively large force to push the tube through the retention device of the connector to overcome the frictional resistance of said retention device.
Further, in the prior art connector design, the grabbing or retention force between the retention element thereof and the tube was determined by the initial diametric interference therebetween. Accordingly, regardless of the tubing material, the retention force exerted by the retention element on the tube was the same. In instances where the tubing material is hard, such as chrome plated tube, the retention force developed by the fixed interference between the tube and the retention element may not be adequate to bite into the hard surface of the tube, resulting in possible slippage and failure of the tube/faucet connection.
A still further disadvantage with the prior art connector related to the use of the formation of a thermoplastic bead on the inside surface of one of the body members to form a seal between the outside surface of the tube and the inside surface of the connector. Due to manufacturing tolerances, the integrally formed thermoplastic bead seal was not always as reliable as might be desired.
As noted previously, the retention force between the connector and tubing was developed by diametric interference between the retention element and tube. As a result of such diametric interference, score marks were produced on the tube surface as the tube was inserted through the retention element In some instances, the score marks functioned as by-pass channels about the seal of the connector which resulted in undesirable leakage.
Finally, in the prior art design, once the tube was inserted into the connector, the tube could not be retracted. Due to the diametric interference between the retention element and the tube, any attempted retraction of the tube would generally result in damage to either the tube or connector.
The disadvantages discussed above are eliminated in the connector of the present design. The present connector no longer relies upon diametric interference between the retention device and tube to develop the retention force. In the present device initial diametric interference between the retention element and tube is eliminated; the retention force is developed after the tube is inserted into the connector. Further, in the connector of the present invention, the magnitude of the grabbing or retention force can be varied so that the force is adequate to prevent relative movement of the tube and connector regardless of the tubing material.
Since the force developed by the diametric interference of the tubing and connector has been eliminated in the present connector, and the retention force is developed after the tubing is inserted into the connector, the force may be subsequently eliminated and the tubing readily removed after insertion. Further, since the diametric interference between the tube and connector has been eliminated, scoring of the tube is likewise no longer a problem.
Finally, the present connector utilizes a standard elastomer O-ring to improve sealing reliability. The use of a standard elastomer O-ring avoids the necessity of utilizing an integral thermoplastic bead on the inside surface of one of the body members forming the connector.
Accordingly, an object of this invention is a connector for joining the flange of a water faucet to a water supply line which has improved sealing characteristics and whereby the retention force for maintaining the water supply line within the connector is generated after the supply line is inserted into the connector.